


A Haunting

by Slaskia



Series: Misfortunate Events [12]
Category: Halo
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Haunted Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-23
Updated: 2011-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-19 03:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slaskia/pseuds/Slaskia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rtas and Ella decide to take a vacation in an old human house, only it seems the place is haunted....</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Haunting

It was a summer house, built by a clear lake in the middle of a temperate forest.  The house looked old, likely made of materials humans haven’t commonly used since the 21st century, but it wasn’t falling apart: a testament of good maintenance over its long history.   Still, Rtas worried the wooden steps may break under his weight as he ascended them to the front door, hearing an ominous creek with each step. 

“Looks nice on the outside,” a female voice said behind him.  “I wonder if that would hold true on the inside as well.” 

“I am sure it does, Ella,” Rtas replied.  “And you know Zeno almost as well as I: he would not play such a trick on us.” 

“But he is prone to playing pranks in general, Ruety,” Ella countered, Rtas wincing slightly at the ‘pet’ name she used.  “You going to open the door or not?” 

“I would…If I my hands were not full:  did you have to pack the whole house?  We are only staying here for a few days….” 

“Shush!  I did not pack _that_ much and you did not have to try to bring everything from the transport in one trip you know.” 

“I figured the sooner we got in and settled the sooner I could start _relaxing_.”  He leaned toward her.  “You could have helped carry a bag or two yourself, you know….” 

“Humph!  Where are those keys then, lazy boy?” 

“Right front coat pocket.”  Rtas watched as Ella fished for said keys, though she also snuck a grope on his rear in the process.  “Ella!” 

Ella simply giggled as she fumbled with the keys a moment before unlocking the door.  The door swung open to a dark, ominous feeling interior. As they walked in, Rtas felt a chill go down his spine.  “You know…,” he said softly as he looked around the dark entryway.  “I am suddenly recalling something Zeno told me about places like this….” 

“What is that, Ruety?”  Ella asked as he heard her groped around for the lights. 

“That old places like this tend to be haunted.” 

“Haunted?  You mean by ghosts and such?”  He nodded.  “Please, such things are figments of your imagination.  There is no such thing as ghosts.  Ah, there it is.”  She must have found the light switch, as a light suddenly flicked on overhead.  

It was an elegant light fixture, made of clear glass that emitted a yellow light.  It revealed a wooden stairway to the left, with a long hallway running parallel to it.  The hallway had a couple of doors, one on each side, leading to other rooms.  He could not see what lay at the end of the hallway: the light did a very poor job of penetrating the gloom of the house. 

Ella seemed to agree, as she went on a lightswitch hunt.  After a couple of moments, she found more switches, illuminating more of the house.  She even opened a few curtains, bringing in natural light.  The natural light helped lift the gloom more than the house lights, but the single sun of this world was already setting.  

“Ooooh, Rtas there is a fireplace!”  He heard her call from the end of the hallway. 

Rtas set the bags down by the stairs and joined her in what appeared to be the living room.  The floor was polished wood with a few choice rugs here and there, mainly in front of the seating by the fireplace.  The fireplace was made of stone and looked well used.  Seating consisted of a couch and a couple of recliners in front of the fireplace, with another couch and a coffee table to the left, in front of a TV.  The furniture overall looked…antique.  He made a mental note to be careful while handling the furniture. 

“We can spend the nights cuddling by the fire,” Ella said.  “I have heard humans say it romantic….” 

“Uh-huh…,” Rtas muttered, wondering if Ella was getting too engrossed in human culture like Zeno was. 

They checked upstairs next, where Rtas, personally, had the biggest concerns.  Would the bed be big and sturdy enough to handle two full grown Sangheili?  What about the bathrooms?  He shuddered at the thought of clogged plumbing…. 

The bed in the master room proved to be an adequate, king-sized bed that seemed to hold their weight well.  Still, Rtas felt that they would need to be careful during any ‘romps’ under the covers should the mood strike them during their stay here.  There was no way either of them would fit in that bathtub though and the shower felt very claustrophobic: it looked like any bathing may have to be done in the lake.  It wasn’t something Rtas hadn’t done before while out in the field, though Ella would surely gripe about it. 

They unpacked and had dinner, though it took a while for Ella to figure out how to use the stove.  By then the sun had set, leaving only the full moon and the interior house lights illuminating the place.  It left the place feeling gloomy and oppressive, but Rtas did his best to ignore it and focus on relaxing with Ella.  The pair had opted to cuddle in front of the now lit fireplace for awhile before heading to bed. 

“This is the life…,” Ella purred.  “No rude customers, arrogant warriors….” 

“Nagging Elders, mischievous and troublesome underlings…,” Rtas muttering, agreeing with the sentiment.  It was nice to get away from it all for once. 

“Just wish it was not so chilly…” 

“Chilly?”  Rtas looked at his mate.  “I feel fine.  Maybe you are not used to Earth climate?  Or is this an excuse to get in my lap?” 

“Good idea,” Ella giggled as she did just that.  “Though I really did feel cold.” 

“How about now?” 

“Feel fine now.” 

“Uh huh, right…tricky female.”  Rtas did like this level intimacy though, so he wasn’t complaining _too_ much.  Funny, why was he now feeling a bit chilly? 

Just then all the lights in the house went out. 

“Whoa…must be power outage,” Rtas said.  “Maybe even faulty wiring?” 

“Likely will come back on eventually,” Ella said.  “We still have the light of the fire, at least.” 

Rtas agreed, resting his head on Ella’s neck as he decided not to worry about the lights.  If it came to it, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to grope their way up to the bedroom.  Or they could just sleep on the couch.  _Hmm…Interesting prospect…_ Rtas thought with a faint smile. 

 _Thump.  Thump._  

“Rtas….what was that?”  Ella asked. 

“I do not know,” Rtas replied, looking around, but could see nothing beyond the range of the light the fireplace provided.  “Sounded like it was upstairs.” 

 _Thump.  Thump._  

“There it is again…,”  Ella said, looking about herself now. 

“Maybe it is the house just settling, or something….”  However, Rtas was doubting his own words, for it clearly sounded like footsteps.  Heavy, slow footsteps, as if someone was walking about upstairs, but no one else should be in the house. 

The pair listened as the as sound continued, then changed when whatever it was got to the steps:  an ominous creaking sound not unlike the sound of the front steps earlier.  It was sending chills up Rtas’ spine.  “Hello?”  he called out, wondering if it could be a maintenance worker or something, but someone like that would have announced their arrival, surely.  There was no response, beyond the steps of the stair steps continuing to creak, one by one. 

“You did bring your sword, right?”  Ella asked softly, clinging to him. 

“Yes, but it is upstairs….” 

“A lot of help that is going to do us right now if this is an intruder intent on harming us!” 

“I know how to fight without a sword, Ella.” 

By now the sound at reached the ground floor and was heading toward them.  Rtas was getting more and more unnerved.  “Who is there!?” he demanded.  “Announce yourself!” 

There was pause in the sound of approach, then it began again, this time more quickly.  Rtas and Ella jumped to their feet, facing the hallway, trying to see the intruder.  Halfway down, the sound increased again, this time like the entity had broken into a run.  Rtas dropped into a fighting stance, every muscle in his body tense and ready to react. 

Rtas was an expert tactician, able to make quick calculations on what his enemy was doing and how to react.  His mind was telling him the person should be within the range of the light by now, but his eyes saw nothing.  Yet, his ears told him the entity was right in front of him. 

Then he felt very cold. 

It wasn’t like a cold wind coming through the house though: this cold felt like it came from within and it chilled him to the bone.  His mandibles clattered as he rubbed his arms, trying to drive away the cold from his hide: beside him he saw Ella was doing the same. Seconds later the fire went out. 

“Rtas!”  Ella cried out, sounding a bit freaked out. 

“I am here, Ella!”  he called back, reaching for her.  When he found her they pulled each other close, trying to warm each other. 

At that moment, the lights came back on and the fire reignited on its own. 

“I...I think we should go to bed…,”  Ella whimpered. 

“Agreed…,”  Rtas said, the cold in his person finally gone.  “We can try to figure out what just happened in the morning….” 

\--- 

It had taken awhile for Rtas to fall asleep that night, his warrior’s instincts telling him something wasn’t right in the house.  He didn’t know what time it was when he finally drifted off, but it had to have been rather late, or early, depending on your point of view.  Regardless, he was slightly groggy the next morning and couldn’t even begin to focus on figuring out what happened last night until he had eaten breakfast. 

Once he was fully awake, he called the local power company to inquire about the power outage.  He was told there had been no outages that night.  Rtas was also informed that outages at that particular residence happened frequently, but the electricians had found no problems with the lines.  They had even completely replaced all the wiring in the house once, with no improvement. The last thing the man told him was ‘hope you believe in ghosts’. 

Rtas snorted and hung up.  “Brute dung,” he muttered. 

“Find out anything?”  Ella asked.  After Rtas told her what was told to him, she said.  “Indeed, brute dung.  Obviously their techs did not do a thorough enough job to fix the problem.  Could be a faulty wire down the line away from the house for all we know, or neighborhood kids playing pranks.” 

“That may explain the lights, but it does not explain the sounds we heard, or the fireplace going out like that without reason, let alone lighting itself again.” 

“Maybe it is an elaborate prank set up by the owners of the house.  Didn’t Zeno say that humans can be quite _inventive_ when it comes to pranks?” 

“Indeed and if it is, I will certainly have a few choice words to say about it,” Rtas growled.  “We came here to relax, not be scared out or wits.” 

Ella had that teasing grin on her face.  “You were scared?” 

“Of course not!  Disturbed, maybe, but not scared.  And you were disturbed right along with me.” 

Ella folded her arms and glared at him. 

\-- 

They checked the house thoroughly before attempting any kind of relaxation.  The pair found nothing out of the ordinary: no hidden doorways, rigged lights, footprints of would-be pranksters….nothing, nothing but the still oppressive gloominess inside the house, which still bugged Rtas.  With their search coming up fruitless, they both wrote it off as a one-time oddity:  maybe they had dozed off and dreamed the encounter.  Though the fact they would have had the same dream at the same time seemed rather farfetched. 

So they set about enjoying themselves, confident last night was the only oddity they would encounter.  They took a walk on a forest trail and went swimming:  Ella wanted to go skinny dipping but Rtas said no to that.  During this time, nothing strange happened… 

…Until the late afternoon. 

Rtas was in the den, checking out the books seeing if there was any interesting human literature to read while Ella was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.  He had just found one that may be interesting and started to sit down in a chair, only to end up on the floor instead.  Rtas stared at the ceiling for a moment, puzzled and confused:  surely the chair was right behind him before he tried to sit down.  Looking, he saw the chair was to the right of him.  

 _Odd…_ he thought, as he got up and tried again, only to ‘miss’ once more.  Looking, the chair was now to the left of him.  “What the…?” he grumbled as he got up once more.  This time, he grabbed the chair with his free hand to ensure it didn’t move before sitting down.  He was rewarded with the feel of wood beneath his rear and not the floor. 

 _Weird,_ he thought, as he opened the book.  Perhaps the dim lighting of the room was messing with his perception and coordination. 

 _Thud._  

Rtas whipped his head around at the sound. Looking down, he saw that a book had fallen off the shelf.  He blinked at it, wondering why it would jump out of the bookshelf like that.  Looking at the shelf itself, it seemed fine:  no signs of rotting or leaning.  He got up, picked up the book and put it back in its place. 

_Thud. Thump._

He turned his head again toward the sound, this time seeing two books on the floor next to another shelf.  Again, he could see no reason why the books would fall out and he walked over and put the books back.  As he put the second book back, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.  Looking, he saw a book, edging out of its place on another shelf.  Rtas eyes widened as he watched the book continue to do so, eyes getting wider when the book didn’t fall as it should have once it cleared the shelf and simply floated. 

“Impossible…,” Rtas muttered, waving his hand around the book, checking for strings or anything else that may logically explain this.  He found nothing:  the book was floating for no reason.  Then it suddenly dropped to the floor, like it should have moments ago.  Truly disturbed now, Rtas didn’t bother to pick it up like he had the others.  He walked out of the den and to the kitchen, where Ella was just finishing up cleaning. 

“Find a book, hun?”  Ella asked. 

“Yeah…But I found something else as well…,” Rtas said, his eyes still a bit wide. 

Ella looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly at his expression.  “You look spooked, Ruety, what happened?”  After Rtas told her, she shook her head.  “Must have been a boring book if you dreamed that.” 

“It was not a dream, Ella!  I had not even _begun_ to read when it started happening.” 

“Books cannot float by themselves in the real world, Rtas.” 

“I know that!  But I also know what I saw.” 

A sound interrupted their debate. It sounded like something had been spinning and was at the end of its momentum.  They both looked to see a small plate doing just that, before going still.  The pair gawked at the plate for a moment before looking back at each other. 

“Please tell me that plate had always been there…,” Rtas said. 

Ella was already shaking her head, her eyes betraying her fear.  “No…I had put all the plates away…,” she said.  “Ruety…I am feeling chilly again….” 

Rtas would not have believed her, if he wasn’t feeling chilly himself.  Behind him, he suddenly heard the sound of the fireplace igniting, which should have been even more impossible considering they had yet to use it this day.  This was followed by that spinning sound again and they both turned to see _two_ plates spinning on the counter now.  Then the cupboards opened, one by one, before their eyes. 

“Ella…,” Rtas said softly as the pair wrapped each other in their arms.  “You still do not believe in ghosts?” 

“I am seriously considering reevaluating my beliefs on paranormal activity…,” Ella whimpered. 

“Would it be considered cowardly to leave first thing in the morning?” 

“Considering we cannot see our foes…I think a strategic retreat from this situation would not be considered cowardly.” 

“Then it is agreed we leave tomorrow morning?” 

“Agreed.” 

\-- 

They had a few more incidents that day, mostly flickering lights and a couple of floating objects, which only cemented their plan to leave early.  Sleep did not come easy to either of them, even with the knowledge that the entities had yet to bother them in the bedroom.  Next morning, they packed up and headed out, whatever it was that was haunting the place opening the front door for them. 

“I say we stop at the first hotel and just stay there for the rest of our vacation.”  Rtas was muttering as he loaded the bags into the transport. 

“You want to risk even more trouble?”  Ella asked.  “What if _that_ place is haunted too?” 

“I seriously doubt every freaking hotel on this forsaken planet is haunted and I have no intention of cutting my hard earned vacation short, ghosts or no ghosts!” 

“You know Zeno is going to have a field day when he finds out about this….” 

“Who says Zeno has to find out?  I will think of some excuse.  Besides, I am his commander.  If he did somehow find out, I can always _order_ him not to say a word under threat of death….” 

As they sped away, two ghostly figures were watching them on the house porch. 

“You know, Miko, that _was_ a lot of fun,” one said, bumping fists with the other. 

“Aye, but pity they freaked out so easily: I would have thought Ella at least would have resisted belief for a lot longer.  As for your son, Anko, well…He _has_ been through a lot in his life.” 

“Indeed, but at least his life is finally looking up.”  Something ‘tapped’ him on the shoulder.  Turning, Anko saw a human ghost, official looking, whom handed him a ghostly scroll before disappearing. 

“What is it?”  Miko asked as Anko read its contents. 

“It’s a Cease and Desist order,” Anko replied, a bit flabbergasted. 

“What?” 

“Apparently, the usual spirits that haunt this place are upset that we showed them up.” 

“Pfft…They are just jealous of my talents.”


End file.
